Page 125 of Paper Roses

The woman who Daisy was keeping secret was actually her ex. They’d met at a party and reconnected, and they live together now. Daisy says they still have things they need to work on, but she’s happy and loved. That’s all I’ve ever wanted for her.

Raff offers us a rather salacious wink. “So, all you’ve got to do is go to the hotel and do your thang.”

“Please, no,” Jed says faintly as I laugh.

Raff sniffs. “I still think it’s weird that this is a vow-renewal ceremony, and your many guests are here to party but not hear your actual vows.”

Jed rolls his eyes. “I have no wish to express the innermost secrets of my heart with you gurning at me over Artie’s shoulder.”

“Gurning?” Raff says, outraged. “I do notgurn. My special empathetic smile lets my brides and grooms know I’m with them in the special bosom of their love.”

Jed grimaces. “I don’t want to be anywhere near your bosom, thank you very much.”

“Stan, tell them I don’t gurn,” Raff calls.

His husband stirs at the table next to us, where he’s sitting with his guide dog Hump at his knee. “I can’t see it, babe, but I know it’ll be a bit creepy. It’s in your voice.”

“Et tu brute?”Raff says crossly.

Stan shrugs, unconcerned. “I was just glad you didn’t do the voice at our wedding. It would have been like plighting my troth to the child snatcher inChitty Chitty Bang Bang.”

“Come on,” Jed says and tugs me out of the barn, leaving them all taking the piss out of Raff.

The sun is hot in the sky, and as far as I can see, there are green fields and the sparkle of the sea. Seagulls call as they rise on the wind, and the trees rustle in the breeze.

“God, it’s lovely,” I say. Jed puts his arm around me and we look out at the sea. “It was an inspired choice to have it here.”

“I am full of them. Please put that on the agenda for the team meeting.”

“I don’t want to encourage you.”

He kisses my forehead. “I never get away with anything with you around anyway.”

“And you like that.”

“You know I do.” The humour in his voice makes me smile.

“I can’t believe we’re here,” I say quietly. “The last time we were here for that wedding, I didn’t think you loved me. It all felt helpless.”

He hugs me a little tighter. “I may have been a little slow on the uptake, but I can promise you that you will always be the love of my life.”

I kiss him, feeling the words of his love sweet on his tongue. Maybe that’s love. Perhaps it’s the honey from the farm. Whatever it is, I love it.

Then, arm in arm, we stroll down the dusty path. We have plans and friends to celebrate with, but at the heart of this day, it’s just him and me. And that’s a special kind of magic to me and always will be.

jed

Carrying our bags, I turn to watch Artie as we walk along the corridor to our suite.

The delight on his face is the reward for my secret plans.

“No,” he says. “The same suite?”

“The very same.” I lean closer and kiss him, taking his familiar scent into me. “And I have to warn you that I intend our night to end inexactlythe same way.” The door opens, and I pause. “Should I carry you over the threshold?”

He rolls his eyes, the sassy side of him that I seem to have brought out making me want to kiss him. I do so, and when I pull back, his colour is high, but the sass is still there.

He says, “I have plans that require your back to be in working order, so no carrying me.”

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